Canberra, Australia via SCL - Daniel Boyle

[boyle]

I've done a few 20x20s lately, so I'm up to 10 for the year. I think I got 3 in January, so I was expecting to have over 20 by now, but time flies...

It's too bad the Instagram embed doesn't work on here. I actually don't use Instagram that much for watching other peoples things. I do sometimes, but I use it much more for posting. I've been trying to add in more toe stuff, at least tricks that come back to toe, but the ideal will be to do one or more toe to toe tricks in between, but then I drop it, but it's something to work on over time.

[Muffinman]

Hmm, maybe worth checking in with Allan Haggett to see if he could throw this into the forum code:
http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/i ... p?mod=4059

So few people posting these days though

[boyle]

I kicked for a short while today. I actually hadn't put up a clip on Instagram for 5 days. I'm going off the idea of daily clips, and want to work a bit more to get some better clips, but I just haven't been playing at all because it has been freezing.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkeDbnVg_ju

My legs were feeling a bit lethargic today, so I didn't have a long play. I did diving mirage (from clipper)>ducking mirage, which might be new, was kind of fun. Went for a longer bike ride today too, about 30km, haven't done that in a while either. There's not much time left in the day with two little ones, I am beginning to find out.

Australia have their next game in the World Cup tonight. Let's see how that goes. They have to win (against Peru) to go through and then Denmark also must lose. I'm not sure about either one, but could happen. I've been watching bits and pieces of it, I would probably be a lot more interested if Chile had qualified. They really botched their campaign, which started by beating Brazil - I think they were the only team that beat them in that round of qualifying.

They just announced that the 2026 World Cup will be in Canada, the USA and Mexico. I think that might be a cool one to go to, I've got my mind set on that. I haven't been to too many of those mega sporting events, aside from when the Olympics were here in Sydney, and then the South American Games, which are more like a medium size event. There is also the Rugby League World Cup in the USA in 2025, which I would also like to attend. Let's see what happens at that time.

I've applied for a promotion at my current work, let's see how that goes. It would be nice to get some more money and a bit more stable hours as well. I would be setting the hours too, so I could arrange things around pickups and dropoffs. Let's see what happens with that.

[Tjuggles]

Nice clip! It is cold down here as well, but luckily I have indoor spots.

I especially enjoyed the final attempt at zooming. Definitely looking forward to more of those from you. For example gyro osis > gyro clip.

[Muffinman]

30km ride and then footbag? I'd have jelly legs!!
I need to start cycling more though. I have a sweet stationary/trainer setup, but I haven't been outdoors in a year!

[boyle]

Sometimes when doing that I feel really wobbly, but sometimes I feel really strong, I guess you have to get the right combo, and it doesn't always work. I haven't been doing as much recently, but I'd like to get out for a few longer rides in the near future. A new guy started at work who is right into riding, though more into road bikes and things. I have a mountain bike though I don't do that many trails and things, sometimes. It was a bit disappointing the other day I was going to the trails but they were actually closed so I had to go for a much longer loop.

I haven't really been playing much. We went to Brisbane for a few days, it was nice to have a warm weather. I didn't take any footbag shoes, which is rare. I got in touch with Jesse Malouf, some of you guys might remember him from long ago, he was an up and coming young kid in about 2005/6, getting pretty good. He said he was keen to have a kick but we didn't end up meeting up unfortunately. We also watched the Raiders up there, they lost in the final moments, just like usual.

On zooming, I want to work that a lot more on my flipside. My zoom on the strong side is pretty good. Actually the other day I hit something that I don't think I had done before, now I can't even remember what it was. I think it was spinning clipper>osis rpt or maybe the other way round. It took more tries than I would like to admit.

Australia didn't do much good in that World Cup game I mentioned. They lost and Denmark had a draw. France are actually looking pretty good now, especially that a lot the other "big" teams are out already, but they looked pretty poor against Australia in the first game (still won though).

[boyle]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk1DCdMg_Ji

This was probably my best string of today. Had a short session down at the tennis court after dropping Nico off at the daycare. I had a fall playing last night, lucky not to have any injury from that. So I couldn't go too hard today, but I was glad that particularly my ankle was feeling fine.

So last night I was playing in my break and I tried to hit gyro rev swirl on my flipside, which is not a trick I have done before (good side yes), however it resulted in me crashing down to the floor. Maybe the floor I was playing on was a bit slippery, but I really came down hard.

Anyway, was thinking about a 20x20 for today, but the long runs weren't really coming. I got a couple of about 40, so that was satisfactory.

I had the interview for that job I mentioned earlier. I think it went reasonably well. We'll find out, probably by the end of next week. Should be a bit more working in the daytime if I do get that. Not sure if that will open up much benefit for my footbag playing, but we'll see. Should have a lot of flexibility around looking after the young ones, especially once Francisca goes back to work. So, fingers crossed.

Have a little family trip away next weekend, and also this weekend off. I've taken a few days of leave here and there over the next couple of weeks so I am generally working just 3 or 4 days at a time, then a bit of rest, then back to it. Speaking of that, hopefully I can some kicking in during those days off. I'm a little disappointing I didn't do much kicking in Brisbane.

[Muffinman]

I got in touch with Jesse Malouf, some of you guys might remember him from long ago, he was an up and coming young kid in about 2005/6, getting pretty good. He said he was keen to have a kick but we didn't end up meeting up unfortunately.

Yes! I remember he and I used to chat a lot. Here on Modified I think. He posted randomly in the FB group like... maybe a year-ish ago? It looks like he must be into bodybuilding or something these days! He always had smooth style. Hope he gets back into it.

Hope your spill wasn't too serious and you heal up fine!
Injuries get extra scary the older we get...

[boyle]

I've taken it easy the last few days and things seems fine. I was a bit worried about my ankle, probably moreso because my boss at work has been hobbling around recently with a rock climbing injury. Things don't heal up as quick at our age! Thankfully it was nothing too bad at all.

Got in a 20x20 session today. I split it across dinner and putting the children to bed, but that counts for me. I think that's 11 for the year. I haven't been updating my daily statistics so my plan for the rest of the evening is to get that up to date.

Yes, Jesse looked a bit like Ales in some photos I saw. Last I talked to him I think he had a serious injury, maybe a car crash or something, but he said he did a little footbag, maybe like a year ago or something. Guys like him and Alex Urano were getting really good when they were in high school but then they just fell away from it, but I think that happens to a lot of people who get quite good when they are teenagers. Lucky for me, I was quite bad as a teenager, and it's only now that I'm getting to a reasonable level. Worlds is coming up soon, and that's another one I will miss. I set a goal some years ago to go to 5 before age 35. I thought with missing that one, that would be out, but if I do make the next two I can still tick that off. I think if I do get this promotion at work, next year will be a lock for me.

We went to a very nice party last night. Nothing to do with footbag, though I did mention it to someone along the way. A good friend of Francisca's is a comic artist and he had a birthday. A lot of the time I go to these kind of events that are not with my own friends I get kind of bored and fade away, but we met some really interesting people who we had a bit in common with so I really enjoyed it. Would have been nice to stay longer, but had to bring the children back to bed.

This clip didn't really work out at all - I had edited it but something didn't save, so you get to see plenty of drops first up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk9n9eDAdAO ... ylefootbag

In the middle is enough for the double dex bronze badge. With not too much more work I could probably even up that to a silver - I was already up to the 6th contact which I dropped on, so if I had've done the DATW both ways before the paradon, that would have been that.

Glad to get in a session today, I really haven't been kicking much at all in the recent days which has been a little disappointing.

[Muffinman]

Nice, oh yeah, Alex had amazing style too!
Hey, how long have you been playing now?
Also, it's great that you're still able to get in so much footbag with family responsibilities! I don't think I would have the mental energy for that.

Oh yeah the double dex badge. The requirements were different right at the beginning and then they were lowered after I filmed my videos, so if I had know I couldn't got a higher badge with just one contact D: Ah well, it was fun at the time. Hard to be motivated to do any of that anymore with Ianek out of the picture And I guess with Allan half out of the picture too?

You should do the level badges! Those were so fun
https://modified.in/footbag/badges/

[boyle]

There's a couple of things in those level badges which I'm not able to hit, but I should try them out. They are really basic things as well, one of the pincher ones I can't do on the flipside, I think everything else should be fine. I'll have to work on that.

I've been playing a long time, I usually tell people "about 10 years", but I've been saying that for a while. I probably started taking it reasonably seriously (Lavers etc) in about 2005. Probably a bit more seriously in 2008/9 (my first Worlds were Berlin and I did some reasonable routines at nationals in those years). I went to some comps earlier as well before having Lavers etc, from like 2001, and I was playing hacky sack at school from 1997. So I've been at it for a while now!

I'm finding it much harder to fit in the footbag sessions with the 2 kids. It's not so much the kids, actually it's probably more it's really freezing at the moment. I like to do night time sessions but it's too cold in the garage. I've also lost that tidy space I had, I let Nico play in there and now it's a big chaos!

I had a quick session today actually in the lunch break. Only played for a short while, but got some cool tricks (gyro rev swirl for example).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlJ9RTKHvSL

I also played yesterday for a while after dropping off Nico. Second run of the day was 49 contacts but it didn't really improve much on that, though I did hit 5 fearless and was quite close to 6, but couldn't get there.

[Ryan_Morris]

Cold weather always bums me out footbag-wise. But dude, that double dex drill is nuts!

[boyle]

You guys get much colder weather over there, but nothing in Australia is really designed for the cold, and there are only small pockets that get particularly cold. I've been ticking along though, today I did this (ripped warrior>mobius)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlZGLNohUVH

Funnily enough I've been really struggling with mobius, and actually most gyro moves. Since Ryan posted about gyro dlo, I was trying them, and just throwing the bag way out, not straight at all. So anyway, I got a couple of them in the end. Vortex was also quite solid, but I haven't had the same kind of problem with that trick.

So Worlds is upcoming. A lot of talk about low numbers etc, but that seems to be the same problem every year. There are some good players in the lineup, and one of the biggest issues I have seen is that this year the reigning World Champion is actually going (first time since 2013, which is a really strange statistic).

Only 17 players in routines this year. Of course a number like that is going to be awkward for pools. It seems it's just going to be 1 round and then finals - unless there is something missing from the schedule. It's a small field, but it's a pretty strong field. You've got Vasek and Jindra in there, as well as Pawel, so that's 3 world champions from the last 5 or so years, then you've got Taishi who has been a regular in finals, and guys like Patrik Cerny and Dominik Simku, who have been in good form lately. Rafal Kaleta, he will probably win sick 1, sick 3 etc. Seems to have been playing pretty well lately too. Mr Matrix Blau. I'm a little disappointed Alex Trenner isn't competing routines, his form in that Berlin video was awesome - but he's going in the other events. Would be a good fun tournament to attend. I hope to go next year, we'll see what happens.

Looks like we will be having a comp with the freestyle football people in Melbourne at the start of October. I made a post on the Australian group but got very little interest, we'll see a bit closer to time, I hope that all works out. Regardless I will go and compete in the freestyle football. I haven't been training that much lately, but a while ago I hit magellan with the ball which is something I'd been working on a long time. I was hoping Khoa might be able to come out for it, but he is away for a conference at that same time.

[Muffinman]

Yeah, some interesting thoughts of footbag and Worlds on FB.
Props on the ripped warrior > mobius combo. Definitely setting straight up, close to you, and not too high are key. For mobius, every time I miss it it's because I've set too high.

[boyle]

I was thinking, oh I haven't posted in a couple of days, but it's been more than a week. Dear oh dear. I'm thinking about staying up for the routines, I imagine they'll be streamed, but it's going to be pretty late on my time. I'm home a little earlier than usual so I might drink a few beers and see how things go.

I've got a couple of vlogs done recently.





First one is from a trip I did as part of work out to the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, that was quite fun. Lots of kangaroos, koalas, etc. Second one is from going to see Machine Head the other night. I made one of the earlier vlogs from when I went to see Killswitch Engage playing the Alive or Just Breathing album at the same venue, and as a matter of fact I was standing most of the time in practically the same place with more or less the same people. In that previous vlog a lot of it was me walking through the streets very drunk very late at night. While I was doing that once again, not so much of that kind of thing made it to the vlog. I met some new people after the show which was good because I very rarely go out and make new connections. We stayed out drinking until 5am, playing songs on the jukebox etc, that was actually a lot of fun. In both vlogs there's a little bit of footbag, but not much.

I have really enjoyed those video contest videos. Great work from everyone. Super fun vibe in a lot of them. I have to say I was walking around thinking to myself - FOOTBAG FOOTBAG, FREESTYLE FOOTBAG. I really loved the one from the skatepark by the ocean too.

I have been playing a bit, but not as much as I would like. I've done a little teaching this week and managed to put in a little demonstration, for some of the kids they had a go as well. I had a session down at the tennis court a few days ago, I was trying to fit multiple 5 add trick within runs, most of them were 10-15 contacts. I had one run with fog, tomahawk and blurry whirl in the same run.

[boyle]

So Words is over for another year. Would be interesting to see some extended thoughts on the event from people that were there. Obviously you don't get a huge insight watching a live stream for a short while.

The stream was in the middle of the night here, it started about 1am, so I had plenty of time to drink a few beers and wonder, what's the story, no Vasek. That still seems a bit strange. Patrik's routine was just great, but he really was a step above everybody else in routines on the day. A few drops, a few safe options. That kind of thing. Dominik Simku mentioned the floor was a bit slippery, though I haven't watched the semis, was that in the same place?

Actually I don't have too many more thoughts on it, just that I hope to go next year. Hopefully they announce things sooner rather than later so people can prepare and plan to go well in advance.

[Muffinman]

Yeah, I want to know what was up with the overall winner and all that jazz. Seemed a but confusing. Matt Kemmer said he'd explain but I haven't seen anything on it yet? I need to go to a Worlds too. I've been to so few of them D:

[boyle]

I did another 20x20 today. I think that's 12, first one I've done in a while. I went a bit earlier to pick Nico up and did a session then. I normally do it in the morning after the drop off and it's freezing cold but it was quite warm this afternoon. We had walked up a mountain earlier on as well, which I didn't really take into account before planning to do the 20x20, but I got there in the end.

A few tricks from today. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl90p2phZxf

Those particular shoes are really reaching their end date, I noticed particularly in that session, I seemed to have less between the floor and my feet than usual, there are some big cracks in there. I actually got a new pair of Lavers sometime ago from ebay, might have to bring them into the circulation, put these ones out.

I keep half writing posts and then getting distracted and not posting them. Lucky this is still here. So I'm wearing those new shoes I mentioned, they have that new shoe feel, not very flexible, but I can feel much more support on the soles, as they don't have enormous holes in them. I can see this being pretty good shoes after a while.

I'm going to start preparing a routine for the competition that we will have in October. I was working on one a while ago, I will see if I can get that one ready, it was working pretty well.

[Muffinman]

I remember the break-in time for Lavers. What a pain. Good news that they feel supportive though. That's important, especially for Lavers, which are generally terrible in that department! Props on the 20x20. Also it seems like a dad footbagger club on Modified these days. You, Ken, Tony, Mathieu, Josh Gayhart? Basically 2/3 of Modified!

[boyle]

The future of footbag is coming (in 20 years).